I'm Sorry
by Darkpanik
Summary: Eight years have passed since the Autobots adopted Kitty and Optimus still has not told her about the death of her parents. What will happen once she finds out from a dangerous source who wishes to use the young human against Prime? Sequel to Be Careful. Rated T for some violence and minor language.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi there everyone!_

_I wasn't planning on making a squeal for Be Careful, but this just kinda sorta happened. Who knew boredom in college could inspire such things. XD Anyway, I hope you'll like it. So enjoy.  
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_Happy reading/writing!  
_

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Optimus drove as fast as the speed limit allowed, which wasn't very fast at all. Other human made automobiles were slowing him down even further. The Prime silently cursed his large bulky frame not for the first time. Sometimes he wished he was as small and nimble as some of the other Autobots like Jazz, Bumblebee, or even the Lambo twins. That way, he could swerve around the other Earth ground vehicles much more easily.

The Autobot leader was heading into town, towards Smithson Middle School. It was somewhat of a long drive from the Ark, but it was a drive Optimus had to take. The principal at the young human's education center was very displeased when he contacted the Autobots earlier. Optimus immediately knew that it had nothing to do with the Decepticons. He knew, to his dismay, that the problem was Kitty, the human girl the Autobots adopted 8 years ago. This wouldn't be the first time Kitty has gotten into trouble. Apparently, ever since Kitty started the 6th education level, she has been bullied by her peers. Why she was bullied, Optimus never got to know. Kitty was often so upset about it that she would remain _completely_ silent for the entire drive home after school. There were a few times when Optimus asked some of the other 'bots to talk to her when he himself couldn't. They, however, never got very far with her. Kitty would vaguely say, "They made fun of me and I fought them," and then would go silent again. According to her teachers, though, Kitty never _actually_ brawled with the students. The most she would do is push them over, throw something, or even yell profane things. Actions, Optimus had realized, that were similar to what Ratchet would do when he was being harassed by Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Despite not being related to them in any way, Kitty seemed to have picked up some traits from a few of the Autobots. Especially the ones she has gotten rather close to. If it were in any other situation, Optimus would have found it amusing and even a little endearing. But, at that moment, he felt agitated.

When Optimus was just a block away from the school, he transformed into his alternate form and walked the rest of the way. The mech tiptoed his way around parked and moving automobiles and humans. He absently nodded to those who acknowledge him and murmured a few hellos to the much younger children who were always excited to see him. Such motions were becoming second nature to him. Optimus finally arrived at Kitty's school. He knelt down and gingerly tapped at the Principal's window. This was also something Optimus was beginning to get used to doing. He peered into the window and saw Mr. Penning, the principal, who looked up at him then held up one finger to indicate 'one moment'. Optimus stepped back and waited. Minutes later, Mr. Penning himself walked out through the doors with Kitty following him several feet behind. Optimus immediately frowned under his mask when he saw her. The young human's curly blond hair was damp and slightly stiff. The top she wore was quite damp as well. But the thing that bothered the Prime the most was the fact that Kitty's eyes were red. She has been crying. A twinge of anger appeared in the Prime's spark. He hated seeing his little human cry.

"What happened, Mr. Penning?" Optimus asked softly, still eying the young human.

"Well, miss Pax? Care to explain?" Mr. Penning asked Kitty. The girl said nothing which was no surprise to Optimus. She merely stared at the grass she stood on, clutching her backpack in her arms. After being convinced that Kitty was not going to talk, the school's head master spoke instead. "Katherine has gotten into another fight with her classmates. She used inappropriate language and then tried to push one of the boys down the stairs." Optimus shot an appalled look at Kitty.

"Katherine, why would you-"

"They started it!" Kitty snapped, completely cutting Optimus off. "They shoved me first and one girl even dumped milk on me!" Her red rimmed eyes began to tear up. Optimus never thought of how cruel the young could be. At least, not until Kitty started living at the Autobot base. There were times when the young human would say harsh words towards or about those who would upset her. But that was nothing compared to what these children were doing to Kitty.

"Now, miss Pax, that is no excuse for what you did," Mr. Penning chided.

"But, if it was for self defense...," Optimus began.

"Optimus Prime, I know that things were probably different on your planet, but just can not accept this kind of behavior here," the human male said as he fiddled with the lenses over his eyes. Spike called them glass. "Instead of attacking the other children, Katherine should have reported them to her teachers or to me. We would have taken care of the problem."

"I suppose," Optimus mumbled. He wasn't entirely convinced on the fact. Not that he didn't believe that the school would take action, Optimus wasn't so certain that the children would stop harassing Kitty even after being punished.

"It pains me to say this, Optimus Prime. It really does. Katherine is a very good student. She is very well behaved with her teachers and gets good grades in the majority of her classes. But these constant fights and issues with the other children are getting ridiculous and rather tiresome. If she does not stop acting up, she will be expelled from this school."

"I understand," Optimus muttered grimly. Having heard enough, Optimus transformed into his vehicle mode and opened the passenger door. Kitty climbed in without saying as much as a goodbye to her school principal and slammed the door shut, making Optimus flinch slightly. After saying a quick goodbye to the older human, Optimus drove off. The Autobot leader waited a few minutes before speaking. "Talk to me, Katherine."

"It's Kitty," the human said in a tiny voice, correcting him as always. "And I don't want to talk about it."

"We must talk about it."

"No we don't."

"Yes, Katherine, we do," Optimus said, emphasizing her name as his tone got more stern. Kitty clenched her jaw and pushed herself back against the seat. These were signs, Optimus knew, of her anger and irritation. "Katherine, you have to tal-"

"Those boys keep making fun of me!" Kitty yelled, interrupting Optimus again. "They keep saying that I don't have any real parents. They...they say that I'm a freak for having Autobots as parents." Optimus was speechless. 'Oh kitty,' he thought. 'I am so sorry.' "And, and that girl," Kitty went on frantically, "she said that my real parents hated me and abandoned me, which is true!"

"That is not true," Optimus retorted firmly.

"If it's not true then why am I with you and the other Autobots?" The human was crying now. Her small body sagged against Optimus' passenger door and trembled with each sobbing breath.

Optimus knew the answer to her question. Eight years ago, Kitty's parents died because of the Decepticons. They were merely at the wrong place at the wrong time. Optimus believed that it was his own fault for he failed to protect the two humans. He adopted Kitty and raised her as if she was his own sparkling. But, he and the Autobots have been keeping the human girl in the dark about her parents. They have never even told Kitty what her last name really was. It was a selfish thing to do, but Optimus could not bare having this tiny human, who he loved dearly, to be furious with him.

"Kitty," Optimus murmured. "Your parents did not abandon you."

"How do you know?" Kitty muttered as she scrubbed her tears away with the back of her hand.

After a long pause, Optimus cheerfully said, "Why would they? You are an intelligent little femme." The girl snorted. "That is the truth. You are a smart and lovely little femme who has a special talent in softening even the most hard Autobots. You even made Brawn like you." A small smile appeared on the human's face. Brawn never really liked Kitty, but over the years he has managed to tolerate her presence to the point of actually speaking to her without snarling in her face.

"It's fun to tease Brawn," Kitty said with a shaky giggle.

"Until he starts yelling and tries to pick fights," the Prime added with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Nah. It's still funny," she said then snickered. The Autobot leader was relieved to hear the human laugh instead of cry. He was not ready to talk to her about her parents. "Do you think something happened to them?" Kitty asked, abruptly becoming serious again. "My parents, I mean." 'Slag it,' Optimus thought.

"Perhaps. I can't say for sure," he said quietly, trying to keep his voice steady. Optimus was somewhat astonished with himself for keeping up with the lie for so long. He was a terrible liar to begin with.

Optimus and Kitty both remained silent for the rest of the drive home. The Autobot leader prayed to his creator that the human didn't mention her parents anymore. To his relief, she didn't. During the silence, Optimus contacted Bumblebee and Ironhide. He gave them both a quick brief on what happened. The leader also requested for Bumblebee to take Kitty inside for he wished to speak to Ironhide alone. When Optimus reached the Ark, he saw Bumblebee waiting for them just outside the base's entrance. Optimus assumed that Ironhide was still inside. The rig pulled up near the yellow Autobot and allowed Kitty to climb out. Bumblebee greeted them with a broad smile.

"Hi, Bee," said Kitty, faintly smiling back at him.

"Hey, there Kitty," Bumblebee said and crouched down. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up. Then we can go see Wheeljack's new invention."

"Alright," the human girl murmured then turned to Optimus. "See you later, Optimi," Kitty said softly. Prime's spark clenched as Kitty patted his windshield and trotted inside with Bumblebee..

Optimus transformed to his robot mode and silently waited. A few seconds later, Ironhide marched out. Optimus could already tell that Ironhide was angry about Kitty just by the frown on his face. Or, more appropriately, what happened to Kitty. Before Optimus managed to say anything, Ironhide spoke.

"Those little human punks treatin' my darlin' like scrap...," the older mech growled to himself. "Just give me five seconds with 'em."

"Ironhide!" Optimus exclaimed.

"Relax, Prime. I wouldn't hurt 'em. I would just...scare 'em a little." When Prime didn't say anything, Ironhide sighed. "Alright, serious mode now. What's eatin' at ya?"

"I just don't know how I can keep avoiding the subject of her parents, Ironhide."

"Well, then, don't avoid it. Tell her what really happened." Optimus stared at Ironhide mutely. "Prime, ya have to tell the girl somethin'," the red 'bot drawled. "Ya can't just keep this from her. Kitty has the right to know about her parents' death."

"I can't tell her."

"Can't or won't?"

"I do not wish to hurt her, Ironhide," Optimus muttered miserably. He already knew what Ironhide was going to say.

"Not tellin' her will upset her more," Ironhide went on. 'I knew it,' Optimus thought numbly. "What if she finds out some other way? What then?"

"I don't know," the Prime admitted.

"Well, I think that _you_ should tell her," Ironhide pressed. "_Soon_."

After a long pause, Optimus uncertainly asked, "Tomorrow? After school?"

Ironhide eyed him warily. He raised an optic brow and asked, "Ya won't back out?"

"N-no. I won't back out. I won't. I promise."

Ironhide, not fully convinced, merely shook his head and patted Optimus on the shoulder. He knew that it was best to not pressurize Prime especially if he's already feeling like scrap. Besides, Optimus did promise that he was going to tell Kitty and the Autobot leader never broke a promise. Ironhide and Optimus headed into the base. However, both Autobots where unaware of the Recordicon that hid behind a pile of boulders. Ravage bared his razor sharp teeth in a pleased grin. He might have found a weakness for the Autobot leader. Lord Megatron would be pleased. With the flick of his long black tail, Ravage sprinted back to his master to share his findings.

**Next Morning**

It was Jazz's turn to drop Kitty off at school. The saboteur tried his best to be cheerful about going back to school while Kitty moped. She knew that she had to be on her best behavior for at least the rest of the school year. That was going to be difficult. Before she and Jazz left, Optimus had given her a brief talk. He had told her that if she was in any more conflicts, she should walk away. According to him, it was better to ignore the bullies than to fight them. Kitty knew that Optimus didn't particularly believe in that, but what else could she do?

"Hey, baby girl. You listenin'?" Jazz's voice floated into her ears.

"Wha?" Kitty said, bemused.

"Kitty, we're at school already," Jazz said with a chuckle.

"O-oh."

"Don't worry, baby. You'll be fine," Jazz crooned. "Oh! And Prime wants to talk to you later."

"What about?"

"No idea," Jazz lied. Optimus told the Autobots that he was finally going to tell Kitty about her parents. More accurately, he warned them all. Jazz and the others knew how emotional Kitty could get. "I guess, we'll find out later. Right?" Despite being good at it, Jazz did not like to lie to those he was close to. Since he was a saboteur, sometimes it was necessary. But that never made him feel any less guilty.

"Well, I better go now," the human mumbled. Jazz allowed his passenger door to swing open and Kitty climbed out, pulling her backpack up and over her shoulders. "Bye Jazzy."

"See ya later, baby girl. Bee will pick you up later, alright?" Kitty nodded and headed inside. "Have a great day!" the Porsche called out before driving off.

Kitty grumbled bitterly to herself and opened the school doors. The hallways were filled with chatting students and a few teachers. There were still several minutes before class started which was enough time for Kitty to go to her locker. After taking a deep breath, Kitty headed towards the nearest staircase and walked up the steps. Before she even managed to reach the hallway her locker was in, she saw the classmates who've been bullying her. The girl who dumped milk onto Kitty's hair was laughing with a boy. It was the boy who Kitty tried to push down the stairs. Kitty remembered that his name was Simon. A couple more students were with them as well. They all have participated in making Kitty's school life miserable. Immediately, Kitty balled her hands into fists. Oh how she wanted to yank that girl's hair out for dumping milk onto her own. How she wanted to throw all those boys off a cliff for making fun of her. But, Optimus' words came to mind.

"Just walk away," Kitty whispered to herself. The bullies suddenly jerked their gaze directly over to her. Devilish grins spread across each of their faces.

"Hey! It's robot girl!" one boy yelled. Kitty spun on her heels and quickly walked away.

"Just walk away," she whispered again and power walked back to the staircase she came from.

"Ewww! I think I see oil leaking out of her!" Kitty heard the girl cry out dramatically while the others laughed. Kitty went down the stairs, taking two steps at a time. She heard the bullies coming down after her.

"Is the baby robot running away to mommy?" the second boy jeered.

"'Mommy'?" the one named Simon asked, mockingly. "She doesn't even have one!"

Kitty's eyes stung with tears as the group of children continued to yell cruel words at her. Before she could help it, Kitty broke into a run. She dodged around other students and teachers until she burst through the doors. The young human, blinded by tears, was outside and sprinting across the streets. She clutched her backpack to her shoulder and kept on running until she arrived at the local park. Being as it was early in the morning, the park was empty. Kitty stopped running abruptly and stood alone on the grass. She willed herself to stop crying. After a few minutes, she sniffled then slowly walked over to the nearest bench. She was too tired to move any faster. When Kitty sat down on the bench, she realized that it was wet. She had forgotten that it rained during the night.

"Darn it," Kitty croaked and got to her feet. The sound of tearing rang through her ears. When she looked down, Kitty saw that her pants were torn. The fabric was snagged onto a protruding nail. "Darn it," she said louder and tried to untangle the fabric from the nail without tearing it further. Anger boiled through her veins. "Darn it. Darn it. Darn it. FRAG IT!" she yelled. Kitty barely cursed as it is, but when she did, she would usually use cybertronian curses. Optimus disapproved of it but Ironhide would always find it rather entertaining, considering that she picked it up from him. But, being as she was alone and very upset, Kitty found no reason to filter her words. "Frag it! Frag it all! I'm so slagging tired of all this!" she yelled and continued to struggle with the fabric.

"Such a foul mouth for a young human," a voice purred above her. Kitty froze and slowly looked up. Several yards in the air was Megatron. The Decepticon smirked and landed a few feet away from the bench, which still wasn't far enough for comfort. Without thinking, Kitty pulled her backpack off and fumbled with the zipper. She had to call Optimus.

"Ravage-obtain cloth bag," a robotic voice called out. A flash of black streaked by Kitty, snatching the backpack as well as knocking her over. Her pants tore all the way down her leg. The human squealed with terror and embarrassment. She looked up to see Ravage perched on the bench, ready to pounce. The backpack, now torn and damaged, was in his merciless jaws. The mini-cassette growled just as Megatron laughed mirthlessly.

"What a pitiful state you are in, _child_," he said cruelly. Kitty cringed as Megatron raised his cannon and aimed at her. Just as Ravage leaped off the bench, Kitty squeezed her eyes shut and Megatron fired. The ground shook from the impact and the sound was deafening. Kitty hesitantly opened her eyes only to see a large crater in front of her. Megatron had blown the bench away, freeing her pants from it. Despite having singed pants, Kitty was unharmed. Megatron laughed again at her baffled expression, only making her face go red. 'It's just like school, but worse,' she thought miserably. After finally winding down, the silver mech took one long stride and stood over the girl with an amused grin on his face.

"W-what do you want?" Kitty stammered.

"Oh nothing important. I merely wished to speak to you, little one," the silver mech said mildly. Kitty didn't trust his words. She may never have met Megatron before, but she had heard the Autobots talk about him countless of times. Sometimes she would see clips of the Decepticon and his minions on Teletraan I. Even her teachers spoke about him and his treachery. Though, the human girl was a bit curious to why Megatron would want to speak to her. Megatron sank down to one knee. There was a gleam in his red optics that made Kitty shift around uncomfortably. "I have heard that you are missing your creators, or as you _humans_ say, parents," he said.

Kitty felt her lungs froze. 'How did he...?' she thought. She tried to sound calm when she asked, "Where are you going with this?" She grew even more uncomfortable by how the mech's grin widened. She had unknowingly taken the bait.

"What if I told you, I know what happened to your parents?"

"You're lying," Kitty said, her voice trembling. Her stomach twisted with dread."You don't know anything."

"I know that they died in a little...accident. An Accident that we Decepticons apparently caused," Megatron retorted, unconcerned by the angry tears that ran down the girl's cheeks.

"You. You killed them! You killed my parents!" Kitty yelled. Without warning, Megatron snarled and smashed his fist into the ground, making Kitty shriek and recoil.

"Don't give me that tone, insect!" he barked, bringing his face closer to the trembling human. "You should be grateful that I've bothered to tell you this without squishing you!"

"I'll tell Optimus what you did," she whimpered. Megatron merely snorted.

"Oh, my little one. It amuses me to tell you that Prime already knows." Kitty stared at him, clearly not able to comprehend what he said, so Megatron continued. "You don't believe me? Soundwave!"

"Ravage-insert," the dark blue mech said in his eerie toneless voice. Immediately, Ravage dropped Kitty's backpack, jumped, then transformed into his cassette form and landed inside Soundwave's opened chest plate. She began to hear the recording of Optimus' voice.

"_I just don't know how I can keep avoiding the subject of her parents...I can't tell her...I won't..._"

When the recording ended, Megatron tried his best to hold back a pleased smirk. He will have to praise Soundwave for _editing_ Prime's conversation with that wretched Ironhide. Or was that mech's name Bumblebee? Megatron could never remember. He didn't care to remember.

"Optimus never told me...he kept saying that he didn't know," Kitty whispered. She let out a tiny anguished sound, bringing Megatron back from his absent thoughts. The Decepticon hid his disgust as he brushed his fingers against the small flesh creature.

"We Decepticons never meant to harm your parents. They were just in the way. I didn't even know about all this until quite recently, actually." Megatron grinned viciously when he saw a flash of anger appear in the human's eyes. Anger that was not aimed towards him. Success. "You must understand, little human. It really wasn't my fault, if you think about it. Optimus should have been able to protect them. Your parents death was his fault."

"Kitty!" a familiar voice suddenly yelled. Kitty looked up to see Jazz speeding right over to her. The Autobot skidded, making dirt and grass fly into the air. He transformed and aimed his pistol at Megatron. "Get away from her, Megatron," Jazz demanded in a tone so chilling that it made Kitty shudder. He was _too_ calm and composed, which made the Saboteur dangerous. Megatron chuckled darkly and motioned to Soundwave to leave.

"Remember what I said, little one," Megatron purred as he ascended into the air after his communications officer. "Why trust the Autobots if they've lied to you all your life?" Then he flew away. Jazz waited for a moment before putting his pistol away then turned to Kitty. He silently studied her condition. Her pants were torn and singed at the bottom edges. Her hair was messy hair. Her eyes were glassy and her face was red. She wouldn't look at him directly. Her mouth was in a tight thin line. She was beyond distraught.

"Baby girl," Jazz murmured and sat down next to her. "Are you ok?" Kitty nodded. "I know you're goin' to be angry at me for askin' but, why aren't you in school? Your Principal called the base. He told Optimus that he saw you run out of the building."

"I felt sick and left," she muttered coldly.

"Now, baby girl. Don't lie."

"Why not? You guys lie to me all the time!" she snapped. Jazz was taken aback by not only her tone but also what she said.

"I don't kno-" he began but was cut off mercilessly but the angry human.

"Yes you do, Jazz! You've all told me that you didn't know what happened to my parents. But you did know!" Jazz stared at her. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't deny it. That would make things worse. Jazz turned away from Kitty and contacted Optimus.

"Yes, Jazz?" Optimus said through the comm link. "Did you find Kitty?"

Jazz immediately blurted, "She knows."

There was a moment of stunned silence, then "Bring Katherine home."

...

After some arguing and much persuasion, Jazz managed to get the little human into his vehicle self. Jazz stayed silent during the drive home while Kitty muttered harshly to herself. The Autobot wordlessly begged Primus to let Optimus get through this in one piece. When Jazz arrived at the Ark, he saw Optimus already waiting for them. The Prime was pacing back and forth away from the entrance. He was most likely thinking about what to say. The saboteur parked near his leader. Optimus knelt down just as Kitty climbed out. Her glare was unsettling. It was yet another trait she had gained from Ironhide. 'I should probably keep her away from Ironhide,' Optimus thought blandly.

"Well?" Kitty asked in a very unkind tone.

"Well...," Optimus sighed. "I have much explaining to do." Optimus gave Kitty a rather brief version of how her parents died. It felt as if the incident happened a few days ago and he was just getting used to the idea of caring for a tiny human child.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kitty asked.

"I wanted to protect you. I...I didn't want you to be upset."

"Upset?" the human said incredulously. "Oh, I'm _beyond_ upset right now." Jazz, who stood by and listened, finally broke his silence.

"Kitty, baby, who told you about this in the first place?" he asked. When Kitty looked down guiltily, he immediately knew. "It was Megatron, wasn't it? That's why he was with you in the park." Kitty nodded solemnly. Optimus' optics brightened with surprise.

"How could have Megatron known?" the Prime asked no one in particular.

"He played a recording of you saying that you wouldn't tell me about my parents," the girl said.

"But, I was going to tell you. I really was. Today, as a matter of fact," Optimus explained, trying to win the human over. "I really truly was, Katherine."

"How do I know that's not a lie?" Kitty muttered and headed inside. She ignored Jazz when he tried to call out to her. Instead, she hid to the side of the entrance and listened as Optimus spoke.

"Let her be, Jazz," Kitty heard Prime say. "She has every right to hate me." The girl snorted as his words. She felt somewhat insulted by his assumption. 'I don't hate you, Optimi,' the girl thought. 'I could never hate you. I'm just...mad.'

"She don't hate you Prime," Jazz answered his leader. "She's a kid. Kids can be harsh. You know that."

"I suppose you're right," the rig murmured, though not sounding at all convinced. "I just wish she could see how...sorry I am."

"Does the little human hate you now, Prime?" a terrible familiar voice said. Optimus looked to see none other than Megatron, standing on the edge of the canyon. He was beaming triumphantly.

"Megatron," Optimus uttered.

"I don't know what you told Kitty or what you were trying to gain from it, but it didn't work," Jazz cut in.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," the silver mech said, his optics flickering towards the base entrance. Kitty recoiled. She had the feeling that was he actually looking at her. Optimus gritted his dental plating and tried to push his misery towards the situation with Kitty away. This was no time to brood.

"Jazz," Optimus said, glaring at Megatron. "Go inside."

"But-"

"And don't let anyone out. This is my fight," he said as he stalked up to the Decepticon leader. He pulled his blaster out and aimed at Megatron just as Jazz turned and ran inside. Jazz almost ran right passed Kitty, who clung to the edge of the entrance, watching the battle. He wasn't completely surprised to see Kitty there.

"Come on, baby,"Jazz said softly. "You don't need to see this."

"I don't hate him," Kitty said, throwing Jazz off slightly. "I could never hate Optimi. He's my daddy." 'Primus, if only she said that to Optimus instead of me,' Jazz thought, exasperated. He glanced outside and his frowned deepened. Optimus wasn't doing too well in the battle. He was no doubt thinking about Kitty.

"Listen, Kitty," Jazz began, trying to keep the tension out of his voice. "You gotta go inside. Optimus wouldn't want you to watch a fight."

As Jazz began to usher the human inside, Megatron's mocking voice boomed, "You're weak, Optimus! All you can think about is that pitiful little human!"

"Oh boy...," Jazz mumbled as he saw Kitty's eyebrows furrow. Kitty trotted back to the entrance and looked outside at the battle. She gasped as Megatron buried his fist into Prime's abdomen, then kneed him in the face. Kitty cringed at the odd metallic crunching sound that came from the blow. She cried out Optimus' name as he dropped his gun and sank down to his knees. Without thinking, Kitty flung her backpack away and ran outside, ignoring Jazz's shouts. Megatron grabbed Prime by the neck cables and held him up off the ground. The nozzle of his cannon rested on the Autobot's windshield chest.

"How does it feel to be hated by someone other than me, Optimus?" Megatron asked softly. His fingers dug into wiring, making energon leak out.

Stopping just a few yards away from the two mechs, Kitty shrieked, "Leave him alone!" Optimus' optics flashed with surprise and horror while Megatron sneered and literally threw the 'bot away.

"You are either very brave or very stupid, little human," the tyrant stated mildly then raised his cannon and fired at the hard earth near to where the human stood. The explosion threw Kitty back several feet. She hit the ground hard then tried to roll away, narrowly missed getting crushed by the larger pieces of rumble that erupted from the blast. The smaller rocks rained down on her mirthlessly, beating her body till she was bruised and aching. Kitty tried her best to sit up despite being in pain. Megatron loomed over her, his face filled with repulsion. "I wish I had known that your _parents_ where in the area, that day." Megatron spat the parents. "I would have made their deaths slow and painful. Just as I am going to do to you."

"NO!" Optimus roared and tackled Megatron. Just as he did so, Jazz zoomed up in his vehicle form, transformed, and grabbed Kitty. The human let out a startled scream, thinking the Autobot lieutenant to be another Decepticon. Jazz held Kitty close and crooned to her, calming her down as much as possible. He ran back inside, one hand holding Kitty while the other held his pistol. Jazz wasn't surprised to see Ironhide and the twins just outside the entrance ramp with their weapons. They were all watching the battle. Without looking back, Jazz could already tell that the tide of the fight somewhat turned.

"Prime ordered us not to engage," Jazz said dryly. The statement brought the other three Autobots' attention to him. Their expressions told Jazz that he was stating an obvious fact.

"Yeah...we got that," Sideswipe answered in a tone that was equally as dry as Jazz's. His twin regarded Kitty with annoyance.

"What did you do now, you little runt?" Sunstreaker snarled at Kitty who was desperately trying to see the battle. Ironhide immediately took Kitty from Jazz and snarled back at Sunstreaker.

"Back off," he growled.

"How about both of ya back off," Jazz snapped and watched Megatron and Optimus. His leader was on his feet and doing better than he was earlier. However, the punishment he received was taking it's toll on him. The dents and punctures in his plating slowed him down. Kitty squeaked when Megatron dodged one of Prime's punches and landed his own into his chest. Kitty couldn't take it any longer.

"Come on, Optimus!" She yelled as loud as she could, ignoring the injuries she received. "You can do better than that!" Jazz and the twins stared at Kitty as she shouted encouragements out to Optimus. Ironhide, on the other hand, chuckled then joined in.

"Yeah! Turn that Decepticon punk into scrap metal!" the old mech roared. He brought his own fists up as if he was the one this fight.

"Give him a left! A _left_!" the human yelled and punched the air with her left fist. "Beat his slagging aft into the ground!" Ironhide let out a guffaw and yelled reassurance to Optimus as well as insults towards Megatron. Optimus staggered back from Megatron. Hearing Kitty's voice as well as Ironhide's made him chuckle despite being in the middle of combat. 'My little Katherine,' he thought with a swelling feeling of affection in his spark.

The Autobot leader absently followed Kitty's, and Ironhide's, directions and attacked Megatron. He landed almost all of his punches, throwing the Decepticon leader off just enough so Optimus could drive his knee into Megatron's chin guard. He heard a loud crack as a few dental plating broke off from Megatron's mouth. Stunned, Megatron stumbled back. A low growl rose from deep within his chassis as he wiped the pink fluids off of his chin with the back of his hand.

"You think you've won?" Megatron spat, allowing energon droplets to spatter over his lips. "I will tear you spark out after I make you _watch_ as I tear your precious little Kitty apart." He glared directly at Kitty. The human flinched. Both Ironhide and Jazz raised their guns at the silver mech as did the lambo twins.

"I suggest you retreat, Megatron," Optimus said as he slowly bent and picked up his blaster. "Or we will blast you out of here ourselves." He aimed his gun directly at Megatron's chest. The Decepticon trembled with fury. His plan had backfired and he knew it. He glanced back at the human, realizing that she was staring back at him. 'Little brat,' Megatron thought. A faint smirk appeared as he imagined himself snapping the girl's bones into thousands of pieces. 'Until next time, little one.' Without warning, he raised his cannon and fired towards Ironhide. Prime shouted in surprise and fired at Megatron but it was too late. The Decepticon had already retreated.


	2. Epilogue

**Five Days Later**

Kitty winced as she pulled her new backpack onto her shoulders. Her body still ached from the what happened days earlier. Most of the bruising Kitty earned from her unwise defiance towards Megatron had faded. The few burns she gained from Megatron's final attack weren't too terrible but they did hurt. Those were still healing up. Though, Kitty found no reason to complain about them considering how severe Optimus' and Ironhide's injuries were. Kitty still felt bad about how badly hurt they were. Ironhide was seriously damaged for he used his body to protect Kitty from Megatron's plasma cannon. Kitty could remember how Optimus immediately ran over to Ironhide's fallen body and carried him to the medbay despite being hurt himself. Even with a crater in his side, Ironhide still managed to grumble profane things about the silver Decepticon. Kitty sobbed apologies to both Optimus and Ironhide as Ratchet and Wheeljack tended to them. Ironhide merely grinned at her and said, "I've had worse." Optimus, on the other hand, would simply try to apologize back to her. Ratchet had to tell all three of his patients to be quite countless of times. After stabilizing Ironhide, Wheeljack immediately tended to Kitty. After much quick research, he treated Kitty's burns as best he would and ordered her to rest.

Optimus allowed Kitty to skip school on the last three weekdays to recover, much to Kitty's relief. During the first couple days, Kitty spent almost all of her time with Optimus and Ironhide in the medbay. She ignored Ratchet's complaints about her being well enough to leave. On the third day, when Optimus was able to stand, the Prime decided that it was truly time to tell Kitty the full truth. Against both Wheeljack's and Ratchet's wishes, who thought that he should still be resting, Optimus took Kitty to the site where her parents had died. He told her everything about the day they had deceased. Kitty could tell how incredibly hard it was for Optimus to tell her all of this. So the least she could do was listen and take in all of what he said. As she did so, the young girl felt a deep pang of sadness and guilt for not remembering much about her parent, but, surprisingly enough, Kitty also felt grateful. Grateful for being alive and healthy. Grateful for having the Autobots, who took her into their base and loved her and protected her. When he finished telling her about her parents, Optimus apologized countless of times. Kitty was sure that if Optimus was able to, he would have been sobbing at that moment. The thought depressed her slightly. She calmly accepted his apology, knowing that all he truly wanted, even though she knew that Optimus had nothing to apologize for. Afterwards, the two were almost inseparable. Optimus would spend the nights holding the human in his hands as she slept, remembering how tiny she was just a few years ago.

Regardless of finding some sort of closure with her time with Optimus, Kitty still dreaded the fact that she had to go back to school. Ironhide, who also deemed himself well enough to leave the medbay much to medic's annoyance, suggested an idea. He shared his plan with Optimus, Bumblebee, and Jazz who all agreed to keep it secret from Kitty. After all, it was a surprise. With much whining and begging and promising, Bumblebee, astonishingly, managed to get Brawn and the twins in on the plan as well. Prowl, who thought the entire operation was a bad idea, tried to talk Optimus into forbidding it. He failed. That was why, on Monday morning, the twins, Brawn, Jazz, Bumblebee, and Ironhide waited in their vehicle modes out of view from Kitty as she slowly walked out of her personal quarters. She felt very anxious as she climbed into Optimus, who stood near the entrance/exit ramp of the base. Kitty also felt a bit upset that she didn't see her other Autobot friends in the morning at all. Optimus told her that they were preparing for a mission, which wasn't a complete lie. Without anymore delay, Optimus revved his engines and left the base. Kitty was completely unaware of the six other Autobots following not far behind.

It didn't take that long for Optimus to arrive into town. Traffic was surprisingly low that morning. By Kitty's request, Optimus dropped her off a block away so she could walk the rest of the way. He didn't try to talk her out of it. Instead he wished for her to have a good day. All the human could do was give the rig a small smile and tell him that she would try, then she walked away. Optimus waited for the others as he watched Kitty, anticipating the right time to make his move.

Kitty could already see her peers outside in front of the school Since the weather was nice, students had to wait outside until the bell rand. As Kitty came closer to the school building, she immediately saw Simon and his thugs. They sat together on the front steps. A twinge of dislike clenched at her heart. She absently clenched her jaw when Simon pointed at her and grinned. The bullies all casually strolled over to her. Kitty forced herself to stand her ground and keep calm.

"Hey, robot girl," Simon said, faking a friendly tone. "We haven't seen you around for a while. Did you glitch up or something?"

"Yeah. Did you go to the mechanic to get fixed up?" the second boy asked.

"How's that freaky robot family of yours doing?" the girl asked.

"They're fine," Kitty muttered, and quickly regretted speaking.

"Hey! She talked!" the girl exclaimed. "They programmed her to talk!"

"Go frag yourself," Kitty hissed. Her self control was dying fast.

"Frag!?" they yelled and laughed.

"What does that mean? Huh?" Simon asked between bursts of laughter.

"It means go _screw_ yourself," Kitty snapped. The laughter immediately died down and Simon glared at her. Without hesitation, he shoved Kitty back.

"Don't talk to me like that, freak."

Suddenly, a chorus of honks filled the air along with familiar sounding engines. The loud delighted squeals and shouts from the other children mixed in as well.

"The Autobots!" one yelled.

"Look! There's Bumblebee!"

"Jazz!"

"Ooh! That's Optimus Prime!"

"Sides and Sunny!"

Confused, Kitty turned to see the Autobots standing in their robot forms. She was stunned to see them all, especially Brawn and the twins. She couldn't completely process what was going on.

"What...why are you guys here?" Kitty asked, astonished.

"We just wanted to make sure you were alright," Bumblebee said and knelt down to greet the other children.

"Yeah. We wanted you to have a great day today," Jazz stated mildly.

"Ya know, without any name callin'," said Ironhide, who looked directly at the bullies.

"And without any pushing or shoving," Sideswipe added in. He grinned at the little tormenters, making them step back uneasily.

"_Or_ throwing things, like say milk," Sunstreaker finished, his optics on the girl bully. She let out a tiny squeak and shrank back behind Simon, who gulped.

"Because, we don't want you to get upset," Optimus said gently to Kitty, pointedly avoiding acknowledging her bullies.

"'Cause if you get upset," Brawn said, crackling his knuckle struts. "We _all_ get upset." All the Autobots were staring at the bullies now, their expressions non too friendly.

"So I suggest that if anyone of you children have been harassing our little Katherine, your should apologize. Now," the Prime said sharply. The bullies stuttered many apologies as they stared wide-eyed at the Autobots. Kitty watched as they backed away from her until they were almost completely against the doors of the school building. It was clear that they were not going to go near Kitty for a very long time.

"Just remember, darlin'," Ironhide said smugly, bringing Kitty's attention back to the Autobots. "Yerr freaky robot family is always here for ya."

"Thank you," Kitty said weakly, still in shock over the entire situation. Optimus carefully rested on one knee and reached over the many tiny children's heads to Kitty. The Prime's little human snagged onto his fingers and pressed herself against them as hard as she could, not caring about how much her body ached. "Thank you so much...daddy," she whispered. Optimus smiled brightly under his mask.

The school bell suddenly rang, making everyone jump. The young humans, disappointed that they wouldn't be able to spend any more time with the Autobots, scattered, grabbing backpacks and lunches before hurrying inside. Kitty held onto Optimus for a moment longer before letting go. She gave her Autobot family a huge smile as she said her quick goodbyes and hastily went inside, eager for a new day. Optimus stared at the door Kitty disappeared behind, feeling incredibly happy and relieved. He felt a sharp nudge at his arm then realized that Ironhide was elbowing him. There was a pleased grin on the older mech's face.

"I told ya that we wouldn't hurt those punks. Just scarin' em."

All Optimus could do was laugh.


End file.
